Page 45 of Rebel Secrets
Okay, that gave me a little better picture.
“Parents had high expectations, huh?”
“Just a little, yeah?”
She said it with a smile, as if she really didn’t care, but I saw hurt in that way too expressive face of hers.And it pissed me off even more.Notather.For her.But from the way she was staring at me, I could tell she thought I was coming down on her.Shit.
She pulled away mentally.Shut down.I saw it in the flat lines of her face.She didn’t do that with anyone else but me.Made me feel like shit, honestly.
Holding her gaze, I leaned forward, her eyes growing larger every centimeter I got closer.At the moment, no one else was paying attention to us.I knew because I checked.They were all engrossed in their own conversations.
“You know you don’t need to live up to anyone’s expectations but your own, right?”
Her lips parted and her eyes widened like I’d told her I wanted to strip her right here and now and lay her out on the table so I could kiss her from that adorable nose to the tips of her toes.
The thought flickered through my brain at lightning speed, too fast for me to be able to tear it apart.So I pushed it to the back of my brain and focused on watching her.
“I do.But it’s hard when it’s your parents.I mean, your parents are amazing.They’re so supportive and loving and?—”
“Yeah, they are.But that doesn’t mean they don’t have expectations.And trust me, I haven’t always lived up to theirs.”
Her head ticked to the side as she thought about my words.Then that little smile came out again, and I knew our conversation had reached its limit.For her, at least.
“No parents are perfect, I guess.”
That right there was her exit ramp to this conversation.The problem was, I didn’t want to give it to her.
“And some are worse than others.”
She held my gaze for a few seconds.
“My parents aren’t monsters.”
“Didn’t say that.”
She huffed.“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m just saying sometimes parents aren’t always right about what their kids need.”
Her teeth latched onto her bottom lip, digging in until the skin turned white before she released it.My hand curled into a fist under the table, resisting the urge to press my thumb there and make sure she didn’t hurt herself.It pissed me off that she might.
“Is that why you moved here?”I nudged at her just a little more.
“Because my parents thought I should win more tennis matches?”
Sarcasm coated her voice, which didn’t suit her at all.And it pissed me off.Took a little bit of work to keep my expression neutral, but I think I managed.She didn’t run screaming, anyway.
“You wanted to be where you could be yourself.”
Now she looked at me like I had two heads and a tail.Finally, after a few quiet seconds, she shook her head, and her gaze slid away.
“So anyway, about camp.I usually bring lunch around 11:30 so I have time to set up.Everything’s ready by noon for the kids to eat.You won’t have to do anything.I do cleanup, too.”
I didn’t say anything right away.“Seems like we’re going to be seeing each other a lot more than we anticipated.”
“And are you okay with that?”
She said it with a little more of her natural sass and something inside me settled.
